Pallas Grav-Attack Squadron
vehicle of the Legio Custodes.]] A Pallas Grav-Attack Squadron was a specialised squad of the ancient Legio Custodes, the elite bodyguard of the Emperor of Mankind, that utilised the highly-manoeuvrable Pallas Grav-Attack hunter-killer vehicle during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras of the 30th and 31st Millennia. The Legio Custodes relied on the Pallas' superior agility to inflict devastating hit-and-run assaults on the enemy or to hunt down fleeing targets. In addition, these capabilities allowed Pallas Grav-Attack Squadrons to be used as reconnaissance units or as skirmishing forces large enough to pin or delay the enemy in place as the main bulk of the Legio Custodes detachments were deployed. It is unknown if the Pallas Grav-Attack is still deployed in the 41st Millennium. Role Designed as a high manoeuvrability hunter-killer, the Pallas provided the Legio Custodes with a rapid-strike capacity greater than that which could be afforded by the use of ground troops alone. In this it replaced standard pattern skimmers as well as larger war machines such as the ancient Jocasta Pattern Grav-Attacks, themselves relics of the Unification Wars, and considerably smaller Hermes Pattern Grav-Sleds, which while highly agile and swift, offered little in the way of combat survivability. In addition to their relative durability and extreme turn of speed, the Pallas' more well-rounded abilities allowed the Grav-Attack to also be used as reconnaissance units or as skirmishing forces in larger assault groups to pin or delay the enemy in place as the main bulk of the Legio rallied to meet a threat either in direct confrontation or ambush. The Pallas was designed, it is reported, to incorporate advanced manoeuvring and autonomous response systems recovered by the great Techno-Archaeologist Arkhan Land. The Pallas Pattern Grav-Attack was one of the most recent designs to have entered service with the Legio Custodes prior to the Burning of Prospero. Clearly based based upon the advanced repulsor-lift technology pioneered by the Coronus Grav-Carrier and Caladius Grav-Tank, it was smaller than either, a single-seat, high-speed attack skimmer analogous in role to the Land Speeders of the Legiones Astartes. The Pallas was also very powerfully armed for a vehicle of its size, with its standard configuration carrying cycle-linked Archanus Pattern Blaze Cannons, a highly flexible Laser Weapon able to unleash rapid individual pulses of fire or concentrate them into a single blast-beam, allowing it to serve ably as both an anti-infantry and anti-armour device. Rarer variants do however exist, including those equipped with extremely powerful Adrathic Disintegration Beam Weapons. Unit Composition *'1-3 Pallas Grav-Attack Vehicles' Wargear *'Twin-linked Arachnus Blaze Cannon' *'Flare Shield' *'Machine Spirit (Artificial Intelligence)' Optional Wargear A Pallas Grav-Attack may take any of the following upgrades: *'Searchlight' *'Extra Armour Plating' Any Pallas Grav-Attack may exchange its twin-linked Arachnus Blaze Cannon for the following: *'Twin-linked Adrathic Devastator' Sources *''The Horus Heresy - Book Seven: Inferno'' (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 273-275 *[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Legio-Custodes-Pallas-Grav-attack Forge World Webstore - Pallas Grav-Attack] Gallery File:Pallas_Side_View.png|A Pallas Grav-Attack vehicles (side view), the Reshep-Alpha, part of the Prosperine Censure Force deployed during the Burning of Prospero. File:Pallas_Top_View.png|A Pallas Grav-Attack (top view) File:Pallas_Panel.png|Pallas Grav-Attack panel; this vehicle was designated as the lead element of an attack squadron, which is denoted by the symbol of the Misericordia. The ancient device of the blade and wreath denotes both authority and the right to enact judgement upon any of the Imperium's subjects. Category:P Category:Adeptus Custodes Category:Imperium